Detectives Byrne and Balzano return to the streets of Philadelphia to put an end to a macabre succession of murdered children.

A quiet Philadelphia suburb. A woman cycles past a train depot with her young daughter. There she finds a murdered girl posed on a newly painted bench. Beside her is a formal invitation to a tea dance in a week’s time.

Seven days later, two more young victims are discovered in an abandoned house, posed on painted swings. At the scene is an identical invitation. This time, though, there is something extra waiting for Detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano: a delicate porcelain doll.

It’s a message. And a threat. With the killers at large, Detectives Byrne and Balzano have just seven more days to find the link between the murders before another innocent child is snatched from the streets.

About the author:
Richard was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the scion of a traditional Italian-American family, which means he learned two things very early in life. One: ravioli tastes much better than baby formula. Two: if you don’t get to the table on time, there is no ravioli.After an undistinguished academic career, Richard traveled Europe extensively, living in London for a time, where he sold clothing in Chelsea, and foreign language encyclopedias door-to-door in Hampstead Heath. Needless to say, he hawked a few more ties than tomes, but neither job paid enough to keep him in beer and skittles.

So, abandoning his dream (that being to become the next Bryan Ferry), he returned to the States and joined his family’s construction firm. Five years and a hundred smashed thumbs later, he decided that writing might be a better job.

After working as a freelance writer for years, during which time he was published in more than two hundred publications — including The Chicago Tribune, The Detroit Free Press, The Seattle Times, and many others — Richard wrote three pages of what was to become the first chapter of Deviant Way. He was immediately signed to a New York agency.

When he finished the book, Michael Korda signed him to a two-book deal at Simon & Schuster. In 1996 Deviant Way won the OLMA for Best First Mystery.